In 1928, the Senate stopped the bill that would have given WWI vets their bonus then rather than in 1946. Mass protests for weeks by thousands of vets on the U.S. Capitol may have swayed the U.S. House, but the Senate was undaunted: passage of the bill would be economically disasterous. Such a scenario is exactly what the delegates in the U.S. constitutional convention in 1787 would have predicted. They designed the House to reflect the passions of the people, and the Senate as a check on such passion where it is intemperate. Looking back at Shays’ Rebellion in Massachusetts, the delegates feared excess democracy. No supporter of the Senate, Madison nonetheless points out that “a numerous body of Representatives were liable to err also, from fickleness and passion. A necessary fence against this danger would be to select a portion of enlightened citizens, whose limited number, and firmness might seasonably interpose against impetuous councils” (Madison’s Notes, p. 194).
The full essay is at "The U.S. Senate."
